Exclusive: Roc Nation Apparel Is More Than Just Promotion

The name Emory Jones may not immediately jump out as familiar, but if you’ve listened to Jay Z’s music over the past fifteen years, it’s one you’ve heard numerous times throughout his rhymes. Back when Jay was just Shawn Carter from Marcy Projects, he and Emory were best friends. In recent years, Emory has gone on to work on the creative development of the new Roc Nation Apparel, where’s he’s turned what began as promotional T-shirts for the label into its own totally legitimate streetwear brand (you may have seen folks around town in their paper plane logo caps). Now, with the release of the new collection today, we talked to Emory about what these clothes mean to him, and more importantly, what he hopes they will mean to the kids buying them.

We’ve seen people wearing the hats with the paper plane logo around, but what made you want to expand into a full collection?

I think we just wanted to represent our lifestyle of where we’re at right now. When you’re moving around the world like we are, it was like, why not? Look, we’re not trying to be a fashion brand, we’re just trying to be a part of culture. We wanted to be a part of that luxury comfort, technical space.

**How do you feel about the larger trend of guys wearing sweatpants around town as a part of their regular casual style? **

Right now it’s a trend, but for certain guys like myself it’s always been there. Sweats have always been a part of our wardrobe. I think now it’s great that everyone is coming in and putting their twist on it. It’s great that you are now able to wear your sweats every day in a way that you couldn’t ever before.

Are there particular pieces in the collection that you’re really excited about?

I just like the way we played with fabrics and made everything comfortable. I think the tops are stronger than the sweats. Nowadays it’s all about being comfortable. You can put on the same sweats every day but you’ll always want to change your shirt around. I really think the way we did the knits with our branding and everything is the real strength of the whole collection.

Is the point of the collection more to promote Roc Nation, or to just be its own brand? Both?

Well, we had to deal with that stigma. I’m not a trend follower, though, so I think we just did it more from a lifestyle standpoint. I don’t want to sell you on Roc Nation. I want to make something that you would pick up and buy anyway. I feel like Roc Nation represents a great lifestyle. And it’s not about having money. It’s about being able to be yourself.

**So on that note, what’s the price point like on everything? **

The most expensive piece in the collection is the shorts, which are $78. Everything is under $100. I did that purposefully. Somebody shouldn’t be able to tell you you’re not fresh because of the price tag. I want it to be accessible. But we didn’t jeopardize the quality or fabrics. We just went out and found the right partners to bring it together.

**What’s the overall message you want to convey with Roc Nation apparel? **

It’s all about being accessible. When we first started rapping, we asked ourselves, "How can some kids from Marcy Projects move to downtown Brooklyn?" That’s talking about what, a ten block radius? But if we could do that, we’d feel like we made it. The average kid there has never left Bed-Stuy and been to another borough, even Queens. So if he’s never even been to Queens, how can he be thinking about what’s going on across the water in Jersey, or in D.C., or Chicago, L.A.?

So when we started Roc Nation, our mindset was global. Our mindset was to show kids that the world is big, but it’s also small. A kid from Brooklyn can relate to a kid in Nigeria, or a kid in Paris. But when I was growing up, I never thought in a million years I would ever get on a plane. I was taught that from second grade on, everything is survival skills. So as kids, what did we do? We used to make paper planes and mentally fly away. This isn’t about being fashion or trendy, and it’s not about promoting a record label, it’s just about giving people a piece of our lifestyle and culture.